


somebody that I used to know

by ComicBooksBro



Series: The Happy One (3490 Secret Empire) [3]
Category: Avengers (Comics), Marvel, Marvel 3490, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Civil War II (Marvel), Evil Steve Rogers, F/M, Female Tony Stark, Hydra Steve Rogers, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:34:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23278684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComicBooksBro/pseuds/ComicBooksBro
Summary: "You've changed," Steve says, eyes cold as the ice they found him in all those years ago."So have you."
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Natasha Stark
Series: The Happy One (3490 Secret Empire) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1521422
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16





	somebody that I used to know

They're on a balcony, looking at the sky together. It's not a cloudy night, but lights cover most of the stars, and the sky looks flat and businesslike. Toni wishes they were here under better circumstances, she'd say Steve does too, but it's been almost impossible to read him lately. His head is tilted slightly, and his eyes are blank, like he's somewhere else right now.

Toni's been getting that look a lot lately.

"Why now?" _He speaks!_ Toni is almost embarrassed for being excited about her _husband_ talking to her, but Steve doesn't talk to her as much as he used to. The tone of his voice doesn't sound friendly, it's the voice he uses when they're fighting- villains that is- aside from the registration act they didn't really fight. it's harsh and impersonal, flat, like the sky above them and the sparse stars, millions of miles away from each other. 

"Why what?" Toni asks, unconsciously scuffing her armored feet on the dusty floor.

"This war with Carol, why now? Things have been so good lately, and now you want to start a civil war- do you have any idea what that could to the Avengers, the X-Men- to _us_?" A little emotion creeps into his voice now, but it's flimsy, plastic, and a sickly-sweet concerned. Toni doesn't trust it.

"I don't want a civil war, I want to talk some sense into Carol. She tried to change the future, and all it did was make things worse- it's happened multiple times now- there's no changing those futures for the better." _All it did was make things worse_ is an understatement, Rhodey had _died_ \- and Carol just kept charging on. 

"You don't want to change anything?" The vision of Steve, dead on the steps of the capitol flashed into Toni's mind. "You know I could die, and you still don't take our side?" This doesn't sound like the Steve she knows, that Steve would lay down his life for anyone, not use it as a bartering chip.

Toni can't meet his eyes.

She can't do this. Steve could die.

But trying to change things will only make it worse.

"You've changed." Steve again, his voice is soft, but still clear, _he moved closer_. A hand rests on Toni's metal-plated shoulder.

"So have you." 

"You're not yourself."

"I could say the same."

"Don't try and turn this back on me, _Natasha,"_ Steve says harshly, Toni's real first name rolling of his tongue with an unnatural ease. Steve _never_ called her Natasha. 

"I'm done trying, have you listened to what's coming out of Carol's mouth lately? She lost it- gone batty, and I'm starting to think you have too. She wants to put Miles in prison, Steve. He's just a kid! What if it was Maria or James behind those bars, would you still be on her side then?"

"For the better of the world, yes. It doesn't matter what you say, I stand with Carol."

" Steve _plea-"_

"Calm down, Toni."

"Listen to me, you can't-"

"Toni, stop." She does, she holds her breath, wishes she had never set foot on this deck. Her palms are sweaty under the armor, and she needs to stop herself from wiping them on her legs. _Calm down. Breathe in, breathe out._ "I don't like what I'm seeing here." There's a long pause as Steve picks his next words. "I was very young when I lost my father, but I still remember the signs..."He trails off, looking of the edge of the balcony and skimming his hands across the rail. That's the moment Toni realizes exactly where this is going, and her stomach twists. 

"Control issues, paranoia, manic behavior..." Toni feels like throwing up, _he can't be serious._

"You need to tell me the truth. When was your last drink?" There it is, the end-all question, it wasn't 'have you started drinking?' No, that would be too easy. It was ' _when_ was your last drink.'

When.

~~When is your breaking point? When do you just want to give up? When will you be done trying to be enough for him? When you come home at night, can you sleep, knowing you've done what you've done? You couldn't handle it then, you're sure as hell not handling it now.~~

The question screams at her, an endless barrage of other, smaller, cutting questions hidden inside.

~~When will you give in? We all know you never had it in you to stay clean.~~

"I-" Toni starts up the jets in her boots, "We'll talk about this later." She jets off, up to the sky, the too-far-apart stars, and sets a course for home. 

~~She could use a drink.~~

She stops thinking, and keeps flying.

~~You don't seem like yourself.~~

~~Neither do you, Steve.~~

**Author's Note:**

> What'd ya think?  
> I'm pretty happy with the way this came out.  
> (Loosely based off of Steve Rogers: Captain America #6, mostly that balcony scene 'cause damnit that one hurt. I kept some of the dialogue. ) Title from Gotye's 'Somebody That I Used To Know'. It could fit better, but I like the way it sounds. (And it's a pretty good song.)


End file.
